Delivery Robot

Scott Griffith, Alan Racek, Philip Budde, Brian Kramer

Advisor: Dr. Carlos Tavora

Liaison: Dr. Carlos Tavora

Sponsor: Gonzaga University

Project Description: The Delivery Robot is an autonomous, mobile, robotic platform, capable of transporting mail and other materials to and from faculty offices, laboratories and storerooms. This project is the first phase in achieving the objective.

The scope of the project was to develop a sensing and control infrastructure that enables navigation through a building. A sensing subsystem was developed to measure distance travelled, angle of travel, distance from walls and to obstacles on the path, and interaction with objects. A motion subsystem was developed to control movement while maintaining a safe distance from obstacles. This subsystem also controls rotation in either direction by a specified number of degrees. A human machine interface allows the input of motion commands, the locking and unlocking of the storage compartment, and the access of a diagnostics menu that facilitates maintenance and troubleshooting. The processing of sensing, control and human machine interface information was implemented with a Freescale 9S12DP512 microcontroller. A robot that meets the project specifications was delivered to Gonzaga's School of Engineering and Applied Science with a complete set of documentation.